Chapter 33: Synthesis for Research Writing

At its most basic level, a synthesis involves combining two or more summaries, but synthesis writing is more difficult than it might at first appear because this combining must be done in a meaningful way, and the final essay must generally be thesis-driven.  In composition courses, “synthesis” commonly refers to writing about printed texts, drawing together particular themes or traits that you observe in those texts, organizing the material from each text according to those themes or traits, and developing your own thesis or theory.  Sometimes, you may be asked to synthesize your own ideas with those of the texts you have been assigned. In your other college classes, you’ll probably find yourself synthesizing information from graphs and tables, pieces of music, and artworks as well.  

Synthesis in Everyday Life 

Whenever you report to a friend about a film or podcast, you engage in synthesis.  People synthesize information naturally to help other see the connections between things they learn;  for example, you have probably stored up a mental data bank of the various descriptions you’ve heard about particular professors.  If your data bank contains several positive descriptions, you might synthesize that information and use it to enroll in a class from that professor.  Synthesis is related to but not the same as classification, division, or comparison and contrast.  Instead of attending to categories or finding similarities and differences, synthesizing sources is a matter of pulling them together into some kind of harmony.  Synthesis searches for links between materials for the purpose of constructing a thesis or theory.

Synthesis Writing Outside of College  

The basic research report (described below as a background synthesis) is a common document in the business world.  Whether one is proposing to open a new store or expand a product line, the report will synthesize information and arrange it by topic rather than by source.  Whether you want to present information on child rearing to a new mother, or details about your town to a new resident, you’ll find yourself synthesizing too. And just as in college, the quality and usefulness of your synthesis will depend on your accuracy and organization. 

Key Features of a Research Report

(1)  It accurately reports information from the sources using different phrases and sentences;
(2)  It is organized in such a way that readers can immediately see where the information from the sources overlap;.
(3)  It makes sense of the sources and helps the reader understand them in greater depth. 

The Background Synthesis for Research Writing

A research report requires that you bring  together background information on a topic and organize it by topic rather than by source.  Instructors often assign background syntheses at the early stages of the research process, before students have developed a thesis–and they can be helpful to students conducting large research projects even if they are not assigned.  For example, if you are asked to create a background synthesis of  Internet information that could help prospective students select a college, one paragraph might discuss residential life and synthesize brief descriptions of the information students might find out about living on campus (cited of course). Another paragraph might discuss the academic program, again synthesizing information from the web sites of several colleges, while a third might synthesize information about co-curricular activities.  The completed paper would be a wonderful introduction to using the internet to research different colleges.  It contains no thesis, but it does have a purpose:  to present the information that is out there in a helpful and logical way. In the process of writing his or her background synthesis, the student explored the sources in a new way and become more familiar with the topic.  Only when one has reached this degree of expertise is one ready to formulate a thesis.  Frequently writers of background synthesis papers develop a thesis before they have finished.  In the previous example, the student might notice that no two colleges seem to agree on what constitutes “co-curricular,” and decide to research this question in more depth, perhaps examining trends in higher education and offering an argument about what this newest trend seems to reveal.  

A Synthesis of the Literature  

As a college student, you may be asked to begin research papers with a synthesis of the sources.  Your primary purpose is to show readers that you are familiar with the field and are qualified to offer your own opinions.  But your larger purpose is to show that in spite of all this wonderful research, no one has addressed the problem in the way that you intend to in your paper.  This gives your synthesis a purpose and even a thesis of sorts. Because each discipline has specific rules and expectations, you should consult your professor or a guidebook for that specific discipline if you are asked to write a review of the literature and aren’t sure how to do it.

Preparing to Write Synthesis

Regardless of whether you are synthesizing information from prose sources, from laboratory data, or from tables and graphs, your preparation for the synthesis will likely involve comparison. It may involve analysis, as well, along with classification, and division as you work on your organization. Sometimes the wording of your assignment will direct you to what sorts of themes or traits you should look for in your synthesis.  At other times, though, you may be assigned two or more sources and told to synthesize them.  In such cases you need to formulate your own purpose, and develop your own perspectives and interpretations.  A systematic preliminary comparison will help. Begin by summarizing briefly the points, themes, or traits that the texts have in common (you might find summary-outline notes useful here).  Explore different ways to organize the information depending on what you find or what you want to demonstrate (see above).  You might find it helpful to make several different outlines or plans before you decide which to use.  

Writing The Synthesis Essay

A synthesis essay should be organized so that others can understand the sources and evaluate your comprehension of them and their presentation of specific data, themes, etc. The following format works well.

The introduction of a synthesis essay:

This should be organized by theme, point, similarity, or aspect of the topic.  Your organization will be determined by the assignment or by the patterns you see in the material you are synthesizing.  The organization is the most important part of a synthesis, so try out more than one format.

Individual Paragraphs

When you have finished your paper, write a conclusion reminding readers of the most significant themes you have found and the ways they connect to the overall topic.  You may also want to suggest further research or comment on concepts you do not discuss in the paper. If you are writing a background synthesis, it may be appropriate for you to offer an interpretation of the material or take a position (thesis).  Check this option with your instructor before you write the final draft of your paper.  

Checking your own writing or that of your peers 

Read a peer’s synthesis and then answer the questions below.  The information provided will help the writer check that his or her paper does what he or she intended (for example, it is not necessarily wrong for a synthesis to include any of the writer’s opinions; indeed, in a thesis-driven paper this is essential; however, the reader must be able to identify which opinions originated with the writer of the paper and which came from the sources).

Adapted from “Synthesis Writing,” written By Sandra Jamieson, published by Drew University,  and used under a CC BY-NC-SA 1.0 License